Men's Basketball | 1/13/2016 5:35:00 PM
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WHAT'S AHEAD...
MOORHEAD, Minn. – The Minnesota State University Moorhead men's basketball team closes its four game homestand with matches against Sioux Falls (S. D.) and Southwest Minnesota State University.
Both games will be televised live on WDAY'Z Xtra with Steve d'Eustachio and Jared Bledsoe on the call. The games will also be broadcast online live at msumdragons.com.
The Dragons will host the University of Sioux Falls Cougars Friday evening at 8 p.m. at Nemzek Fieldhouse. The Cougars are 10-6 on the season and 5-5 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. MSUM holds an overall record of 5-2 with USF, defeating USF by a score of 81-65 last season. Junior guard Mack Johnson leads the Cougars with 16 points and 2.9 assists per game. Junior forward Daniel Hurtt has 12.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. As a team, Sioux Falls has 76.4 points, 36.8 rebounds and 3.8 blocks per game. The Cougars are ranked sixth in the NSIC in scoring margin at 6.5 and third in steals at 6.69. The Cougars are coached by Chris Johnson who is in his eighth season at the helm of the Sioux Falls program.
On Saturday, the Dragons will face the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State at 6 p.m. The Mustangs are coached by Brad Bigler who is in his 17th season as head coach at SMSU. SMSU is 8-7 on the season and 4-6 in the NSIC. The Dragons hold a 53-38 series record over the Mustangs and defeated the Mustangs by a score of 79-57 in their last meeting. SMSU is led by junior forward Mitch Weg's 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Junior forward Joey Bartlett is averaging 11 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while sophomore center Carter Kirk has 9.7 points per game. As a team, the Mustangs have 77.7 points per game and 35.1 rebounds per game. SMSU is ninth in the conference in scoring at 77.7 and fifth in assists at 14.87 per game.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK...
On Friday evening, the Dragons' 16-game winning streak game to an end when the University of Mary defeated the Dragons, 77-73. Sophomore guard Tanner Kretchman's career-high 25 points and five rebounds led the Dragons. Kretchman went 9-of-12 from the field and was 4-of-6 from three-point range, shooting 100 percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Senior center Isaac Sevlie had 15 points and six rebounds while senior guard Tyler Vaughan had 12 points.
The Dragons shot 48 percent from the field, going 24-of-50, while the Marauders were 28-of-62 on the game, shooting 45.2 percent. U-Mary outrebounded the Dragons 36-30, and committed seven turnovers compared to 12 from the Dragons.
Saturday evening the Dragons hosted the Beavers of Minot State where Sevlie posted a career-high 38 points and surpassed 1,000 points for his collegiate career to lead the No. 3-ranked Dragon men's basketball team to a 97-89 win.
Sevlie finished 12-of-16 from the floor and 12-of-14 from the foul line in the game. He also grabbed six boards to lead MSUM. Songolo had 15 points, four assists and three steals while Kretchman had 12 points and six assists. Senior guard Evan Holt added 11 points and Vaughan had 10 to give the Dragons five players in double figures.
MSUM shot 52.5 percent from the field going 31-of-59 on the game while the Beavers shot 56.9 percent and 33-of-58. The Beavers outrebounded the Dragons, 30-26 and MSUM swiped seven steals compared to just two for the Beavers.
